Too Many Hands in the Cookie Jar

32 years ago (1978), education in California began its rapid decline to the national doldrums of education, left without climbing instruments. I would argue that the majority of Californians would agree with me, when I say education should be funded by public funds. I would also argue that Californians would truly get behind funding education through a way that is balanced. I see California as failing its citizenry and the citizenry is failing California. Unless we stand together and embrace reality, we will continue to fail ourselves. Nothing ventured, will be nothing gained. If it meant making that hard decision of taxation, then I say tax.

Two years ago, there was a small grassroots movement attempting to put this issue on the ballot, unfortunately they were unsuccessful. While at the same time, there was an Assembly Bill (AB) 2372—2008 which failed to make any headway within the state senate. Both proposals shared the same idea, which was to create a 1% tax on the first million dollars an individual earns; which would earn a reported 2 billion dollars for education (AB 2372, page 4). I believe all is fair in taxation (e.g. no taxation without representation), if every Californian, between 25—64 years of age donated $20 dollars at tax time; multiplied by 20 million people (roughly), we would generate $400 million dollars for education. Bringing the total to 2.4 billion just for education, if this were to be put in place along with revamping our property tax laws to help get back to the golden age of responsively educating our citizenry, then we would climb out of the doldrums. According to the California Post-secondary Education Commission (CPEC), for every one dollar spent on higher education, we see 3 dollars in (http://www.cpec.ca.gov/). I find it necessary for the leaders of California to cross party lines (against their constituency), so California can become self-sustaining, once again. This would require participatory leadership at all levels, from the voter to the governors office. According to Ralph Brody, in Effectively Managing human Service Organizations, participative leadership, is when a leader’s presents an idea and invites feedback, but retain final decision making authority. Also, they want their employees to suggest alternative solutions (R. Brody, p. 4).

When addressing California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pointed to the problem and said there is a need for change in the law. "What does it say about a state that focuses more on prison uniforms than caps and gowns?" Governor Schwarzenegger said. "The priorities have become out of whack…Thirty years ago, 10% of the general fund went to higher education and 3% went to prisons. Today, almost 11% goes to prisons and only 7.5% goes to higher education." (http://realcostofprisons.org/blog) Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus Cal State system, acknowledged that gaining approval for the measure would require "heavy lifting," but said he thought it ultimately could win favor with the Legislature and voters." It's a step to begin to change the culture of California back to investing in California's future rather than just paying expenses for California's failures," Reed said (http://realcostofprisons.org/blog). Education is a part of our society’s foundation, which holds tremendous value not only economically, but socially. Life is a continuous journey of experiences that hold lessons for all generations, and it’s just as important to have a balanced source of education as it is for it to be available.

Steve Boilard, Director of Higher Education issues in the Legislative Analyst's Office, questioned the proposed link between higher education and prisons, even if it might appeal to voters." Its apples and oranges," he said of universities and prisons. "Why should state spending on higher education be determined on how much we save on prison reform http://realcostofprisons.org/blog?” President Mark G. Yudof, president of the 10-campus UC system, said he did not know whether it was politically wise to link university and prison funding. But he hailed the governor's plan as "a very useful opening salvo" to restore higher education funding http://realcostofprisons.org/blog. This would mean a real change in the system and how money is divided. We could do way with the “general fund cookie jar” and create separate jars for separate needs, with independent or oversight committees monitoring the expenditures. Because we all know what happens when there are too many hands in the cookie jar, nothing but crumbs are left.